At 4:27 am Monday morning, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District arrived to find a garage on Birmingham Street in Oakley fully involved while damaging three vehicles in the drive way.
Crews quickly rushed to control the fire before they could make access to the inside of the home as flames were shooting out to the middle of the street. To complicate matters, a bystander of the blaze stated the home had 5-kids inside.
Crews were then forced to make entry into the home to look for residents. Fortunately, the homeowners and their children had escaped the blaze and were at a neighbor’s home as crews worked.
Considering the size of the garage fire, crews were able to limit the blaze to the garage and a portion of the upstairs with some smoke damage throughout the home. All contents in the garage were destroyed along with two vehicles. Five bunnies died in the blaze.
According to Chief Burris, the estimated cost of damage is $300,000. Another firefighter stated that they got lucky in limiting the damage as during mop up, his foot went through the floorboards upstairs.
Responding personnel included Engines 193, 194, 154, 152, 181, 182, Oakley Police and Battalion 5–it should be noted, Engines 81 and 82 were provided by Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. Crews were on scene for 3 hours and 21 minutes.
No injuries to the homeowners or fire district personnel occurred as a result of the incident. The cause of the fire was stated as electrical.
